Yes, F50. Low 6 figure salary and debt. Was in top 20% for most of LS, might've slipped a little in the final semester because I really mailed it in.

That is a fantastically good outcome given your rank and the school's employment figures. Congratulations to you, but I would not recommend prospective law students attend Santa Clara hoping for the same outcome.

ymmv wrote:That is a fantastically good outcome given your rank and the school's employment figures. Congratulations to you, but I would not recommend prospective law students attend Santa Clara hoping for the same outcome.

ymmv wrote:That is a fantastically good outcome given your rank and the school's employment figures. Congratulations to you, but I would not recommend prospective law students attend Santa Clara hoping for the same outcome.

ymmv wrote:That is a fantastically good outcome given your rank and the school's employment figures. Congratulations to you, but I would not recommend prospective law students attend Santa Clara hoping for the same outcome.

ymmv wrote:That is a fantastically good outcome given your rank and the school's employment figures. Congratulations to you, but I would not recommend prospective law students attend Santa Clara hoping for the same outcome.

Thanks. I should also note that I worked in another company's legal department and went nights 2nd and 3rd years.

That is crazy hustle.

Had to work FT while studying for the bar too. I'm thankful for sites like this. They taught me not to listen to career services.

What did they tell you? I have been told I have crazy hustle, and I never have done anything close to that. Frankly, I don't know if I could because you also didn't know a post grad option awaiting even if you did succeed. Even discounting the fact you had to be 20%, way less than 20% would be psychologically capable of getting this all done every day.

Goals: BL and transition into in-house at a large company. Am patent eligible with a CS degree. Also, I don't want to live in Texas. Seattle>LA/SF>>Texas/everywhere else. Although Austin would fit in right below LA/SF.

Goal(s): environmental law, contract law, PI, or governmental work in general. I like child advocacy too but I don't know that I could do it forever, emotionally speaking. Have an IP compliance background but there's no IP here, so I don't think that's realistic.

Regional Ties: Lived in this state for over a decade, have a graduate degree from the main degree granting university in this state where I want to go to law school. Employed at the university for 10 years as staff. I want to stay in this state and raise our child here and be able to afford to send her to college.

School(s): University of New Mexico, $16K/year for residents (no scholarship data as I haven't applied yet, but I'm scoring above their 75th percentile for LSATs on my PTs and undergrad GPA is 3.9).

Other pertinent information: $10K undergrad loans, spouse works remotely and can cover all our living costs, worked in compliance for 7 years and enjoy that field but I'm ready to move on. In my mid 30s, don't want to wait much longer if I do decide to get a JD. Every job I'm looking at in this state requires me to go back for either an MBA, JD, MS of some kind, or an accounting degree. We're a poor state with a small economy. Target salary is $50-70K eventually. Currently I'm maxing out at $40K with my skill set.

I lived in Albuquerque for a little while, so while I'm definitely no expert, I actually think this isn't a bad idea at all. UNM is cheap and you should get money, NM is small, ties and community are paramount, and you want to stay there. Also your salary expectations for the degree seem pretty realistic. If by PI/governmental work you include PD/ADA and city/county/state government, I think UNM can get you there. (I also think that relatively speaking there's a fair amount of environmental, broadly speaking, just given the role of natural resources in the state - not sure it would be so much "saving the spotted owl" as "negotiating mineral rights" kinds of stuff.)

I think there will be people who say that if you hit 170s on your LSAT, you could get full rides to T14s, which is likely true. But if you want to stay in NM I don't think a T14 is really going to help you at all - it's really small and insular (not meant critically), everyone knows everyone, and the T14s are all far away. Even if you did want to uproot your family to go to a T14, I really don't think that enough NM employers will care to make it worth passing on UNM for cheap.

If you decided you wanted to get the heck out of NM then I would say differently, but if you know you want to stay, I don't think there are compelling reasons to go elsewhere.

(Full disclosure: I went to a state flagship in a state without T14s, though not NM.)

Goals: BL and transition into in-house at a large company. Am patent eligible with a CS degree. Also, I don't want to live in Texas. Seattle>LA/SF>>Texas/everywhere else. Although Austin would fit in right below LA/SF.

Strong ties to Seattle, small ties to LA. Also I have 40k in UG debt.

What about Ucla or USC? The comp sci degree will probably help a lot with biglaw though.

A. Nony Mouse wrote:I lived in Albuquerque for a little while, so while I'm definitely no expert, I actually think this isn't a bad idea at all. UNM is cheap and you should get money, NM is small, ties and community are paramount, and you want to stay there. Also your salary expectations for the degree seem pretty realistic. If by PI/governmental work you include PD/ADA and city/county/state government, I think UNM can get you there. (I also think that relatively speaking there's a fair amount of environmental, broadly speaking, just given the role of natural resources in the state - not sure it would be so much "saving the spotted owl" as "negotiating mineral rights" kinds of stuff.)

I think there will be people who say that if you hit 170s on your LSAT, you could get full rides to T14s, which is likely true. But if you want to stay in NM I don't think a T14 is really going to help you at all - it's really small and insular (not meant critically), everyone knows everyone, and the T14s are all far away. Even if you did want to uproot your family to go to a T14, I really don't think that enough NM employers will care to make it worth passing on UNM for cheap.

If you decided you wanted to get the heck out of NM then I would say differently, but if you know you want to stay, I don't think there are compelling reasons to go elsewhere.

(Full disclosure: I went to a state flagship in a state without T14s, though not NM.)

Thanks for the response. I have my own issues with NM (I'm from the east coast and it was a huge culture shock to move here for sure), but I think we are fairly committed at this point, and your statement that "Even if you did want to uproot your family to go to a T14, I really don't think that enough NM employers will care to make it worth passing on UNM for cheap" is what I'm starting to think too.

I want to apply to the T14 out of curiosity (my PTs are around 170 and I have an undergraduate degree from an Ivy), and part of me thinks I could use it as scholarship leverage - but I also wouldn't be surprised if UNM didn't particularly care. It's a funny state, and you're right, we really do take care of our own first. I'm also not sure if I could handle the east coast again, to live or study. Lots to think about.

Goal(s): environmental law, contract law, PI, or governmental work in general. I like child advocacy too but I don't know that I could do it forever, emotionally speaking. Have an IP compliance background but there's no IP here, so I don't think that's realistic.

Regional Ties: Lived in this state for over a decade, have a graduate degree from the main degree granting university in this state where I want to go to law school. Employed at the university for 10 years as staff. I want to stay in this state and raise our child here and be able to afford to send her to college.

School(s): University of New Mexico, $16K/year for residents (no scholarship data as I haven't applied yet, but I'm scoring above their 75th percentile for LSATs on my PTs and undergrad GPA is 3.9).

Other pertinent information: $10K undergrad loans, spouse works remotely and can cover all our living costs, worked in compliance for 7 years and enjoy that field but I'm ready to move on. In my mid 30s, don't want to wait much longer if I do decide to get a JD. Every job I'm looking at in this state requires me to go back for either an MBA, JD, MS of some kind, or an accounting degree. We're a poor state with a small economy. Target salary is $50-70K eventually. Currently I'm maxing out at $40K with my skill set.

I would recommend looking into CU-Boulder as well to see what sort of scholarships you get but your goals seem reasonably attainable. (maybe even UCLA or Berkeley but those will probably end up being more cost than they are worth unless your LSAT is higher than 75%ile.)

You've already established your bonafides as far as ties to NM so a school outside NM may open up options outside of NM if things change for you.

Last edited by Borhas on Sun Jan 28, 2018 11:31 am, edited 1 time in total.

Borhas wrote:I would recommend looking into CU-Boulder as well to see what sort of scholarships you get but your goals seem reasonably attainable. (maybe even UCLA or Berkeley but those will probably end up being more cost than they are worth unless your LSAT is higher than 75%ile.)

You've already established your bonafides as far as ties to NM so a school outside NM may open up options outside of NM if things change for you

Thanks, Boulder looks like a good option and I do like the town. It could be fun to spend a few years there and it would be a cheap relocation. UCLA and Berkeley, like you said, have issues, and honestly if I was aiming for a T14 I'd go for the east coast T14 I happen to like. I'm still planning to apply to that T14, but it would have to be an amazing scholarship. LSAT PTs are around 170 right now, so we'll see.

Goals: BL and transition into in-house at a large company. Am patent eligible with a CS degree. Also, I don't want to live in Texas. Seattle>LA/SF>>Texas/everywhere else. Although Austin would fit in right below LA/SF.

Strong ties to Seattle, small ties to LA. Also I have 40k in UG debt.

What about Ucla or USC? The comp sci degree will probably help a lot with biglaw though.

WL at UCLA. And received 75k from USC but since tuition is so damn high COA was still 187k, so I had to begrudgingly scratch it

Goals: BiglawRegional Ties: Strong ties to LA/OCSchool: USC. Total scholarship over 3 years is $144,000. Will not have to take out loans my first year due to money still left over in my college fund. Will be financing tuition only in loans for 2L and 3L. Will have roughly $39,000 in loans upon graduation. Guaranteed 1L SA in biglaw firm. Other pertinent information: $0 undergrad loans. Spouse who will cover cost of livingBad decision? Defensible option? Pls advise

Almost a full ride to WUSTL over here with $0 in debt to be incurred (maybe 10k in loans for 3L if I can't squeeze my savings through the third year/don't get an SA or really any paying job for the summer lol). Glad I seem to be in a good spot (according to the OP)!

I'd be curious to hear thoughts on UT/Georgetown/George Washington/University of Illinois (all schools I considered).

My goals are BL ---> public defender ---> eventually own my own firm. I know BL will be a stretch but I do have a ton of ties to Missouri and St. Louis, so I'm hoping that helps. I chose Wash U because I won't have to incur any debt and I want to stay in St. Louis for good.

More pertinent info: one year out of undergrad, working as a paralegal which makes decent money but I'm ready to move on as I've always wanted to go to law school, no undergrad debt, lots of savings.

Last edited by waldorf on Wed May 17, 2017 3:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.

lawpotato wrote:Goals: BiglawRegional Ties: Strong ties to LA/OCSchool: USC. Total scholarship over 3 years is $144,000. Will not have to take out loans my first year due to money still left over in my college fund. Will be financing tuition only in loans for 2L and 3L. Will have roughly $39,000 in loans upon graduation. Guaranteed 1L SA in biglaw firm. Other pertinent information: $0 undergrad loans. Spouse who will cover cost of livingBad decision? Defensible option? Pls advise

incomplete information

if applicable: what are you doing now? do you enjoy it? how much time do you devote to it? how much do you make and expect to make over your career?

essentially, opportunity cost

Last edited by Borhas on Sun Jan 28, 2018 11:31 am, edited 1 time in total.

bwaldorf wrote:Almost a full ride to WUSTL over here with $0 in debt to be incurred (maybe 10k in loans for 3L if I can't squeeze my savings through the third year/don't get an SA or really any paying job for the summer lol). Glad I seem to be in a good spot!

I'd be curious to hear thoughts on UT/Georgetown/George Washington/University of Illinois (all schools I considered).

My goals are BL ---> public defender ---> eventually own my own firm. I know BL will be a stretch but I do have a ton of ties to Missouri and St. Louis, so I'm hoping that helps. I chose Wash U because I won't have to incur any debt and I want to stay in St. Louis for good.

BL to PD seems sort of odd. How exactly is that going to work? Do you mean federal PD? (That makes more sense actually.)

bwaldorf wrote:Almost a full ride to WUSTL over here with $0 in debt to be incurred (maybe 10k in loans for 3L if I can't squeeze my savings through the third year/don't get an SA or really any paying job for the summer lol). Glad I seem to be in a good spot!

I'd be curious to hear thoughts on UT/Georgetown/George Washington/University of Illinois (all schools I considered).

My goals are BL ---> public defender ---> eventually own my own firm. I know BL will be a stretch but I do have a ton of ties to Missouri and St. Louis, so I'm hoping that helps. I chose Wash U because I won't have to incur any debt and I want to stay in St. Louis for good.

BL to PD seems sort of odd. How exactly is that going to work? Do you mean federal PD? (That makes more sense actually.)

I want BL for the money, PD for the trial experience, hope to follow in family footsteps and eventually do criminal defense in my own firm.